Alone on a Hard Path (V2)
by Jaggedwing
Summary: A she-cat and her littermate are exiled from their own home, so they must go on to make a new life. They stumble upon the four lake clans and finally find a place they can belong. After a while of feeling content in their new home, their past decides to come back and ruin their lives once again. (Do-over of the original, co-authored by Queen of The Sidhe.)
1. Prologue

_The dream was of fire._

 _Blazing, raging, it stretched its fingers up toward the stained sky. A dull roaring echoed in her ears, but she did not know if it was her heartbeat or the hungry gulps of the all-consuming flames._

 _Heat burned her paws, and she jumped backward._

 _A trail of flame was inching across the brittle grass like a snake, leaving scorched earth in its wake. Slowly, agonizingly, it crept toward her._

 _All her instincts screamed at her to "run, hide, save yourself!", but when she tried she discovered that her paws were rooted in place. And even though she knew it was a dream, she could not help the sudden terror that struck her heart._

 _Suddenly, a yowl cut through the smoke-choked air. It rang of pure desperation and hopelessness; the cry of a dying animal._

 _She tested her paws and realized that they were free._

 _Without a second thought, she sprang over the burned path and raced away, directly into the heart of the inferno._

 _Flames, blackened stumps of trees, corpses of creatures that never got away - it all blurred into streaks of death and rage. Her mind was focused on one thing, and only that thing. Finding the source of the cry was her life right now._

 _And then, she saw it._

* * *

 **Hello again! So, Snap (or as her user is now** Queen of the Sidhe **) and I have decided to redo the entirety of this story! If you wish to read the original story, I will leave it up. Mostly because I want to be able to look back at it some day and be able laugh or cringe while reading it. So, click on my name and it will still be on my profile. Also: we both know that this is short, but we couldn't exactly add anything more to it that didn't ruin the feel.**

 **If for some reason you enjoyed our story so far (but seriously, who wouldn't?), please review and/or follow and favorite it! This prologue was written all by Queen of the Sidhe (but I call her Snap as I said before) so if you liked it, then you'll probably really like her other stories!**

 ** _Best wishes!_**

 ** _~Jagged &Snap _ **


	2. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer:_ C'mon, I know y'all aren't stupid. Neither of us own ****Pokémon or Warriors.**

 **Chapter One**

Cadence, a young light grey she-cat, jumped up and down excitedly at the exit of the den she was in. Her mother, Awen, just scooped the kit back to her with a swish of her tail. She licked the top of Cadence's head, flattening the fur that was sticking up.

"Someone's excited to be leaving the nursery." the black she-cat purred to her kit.

Cadence nodded furiously in response, but then stopped abruptly and looked over to Nutan. Said tom was pawing at a fluffy piece of moss that broke apart from their nest. "What about him? Can he come?" Cadence asked her mother with big eyes.

Awen glanced over to her other kit, thinking. After a few heartbeats of silence Awen let out a sigh and nodded, "If you can get him to leave, you can bring him around the camp."

"Yes!" the grey kit exclaimed happily, rubbing her muzzle against her mother's thankfully. She then walked over to Nutan, who was still with his moss, and gently pushed him with a paw. Which made the tom shift his gaze over to her sluggishly. Cadence just smiled sweetly at her brother and nodded to the exit to their den.

"Do you want to go out?" she asked him slowly so he could understand. Everyone knew that from the day he was kitted, that Nutan was 'special'. He didn't (or rather really couldn't) really interact with anyone, and hasn't said a single word. But, on occasion, he has opened his mouth to try and form one. Only he has never uttered an exact word before. A few moments later, Nutan nodded to his sister and stood up, the small moss ball forgotten.

Whooshing wind came rushing at the kits as their mother's Pokémon made its way through the very gap they were just about to leave by. The blue and black Pokémon flapped over to Awen and whispered something into her ear. The she-cat nodded in response, standing up herself and shaking the loose moss that clung to her coat.

"Kits, Swoobat has just informed me that Seitre is having a meeting with a few of the older warriors, so make sure to not get into any trouble while I don't have my eye on you," she warned the two sharply. "But do remember, if you do do anything wrong, I will know."

Cadence nodded in understanding while Nutan didn't make any movement besides blinking. The two littermates then left the comfort that was their den and took their first steps out into the world. It was just changing to new-leaf so everything was a slightly warm temperature and the ground felt a little damp underneath Cadence's tiny paws. Spots of grassy patches dotted the clearing, the new noises of birds chirping and singing filled the air.

Looking around Cadence took in all the sights before her. She saw a group of bigger cats all sat outside of what she believed to be the Chief's den — which was where her mother was heading over to — but that was across the camp, so she decided to explore a little closer to home.

Making sure her brother was in fact following her, which was hard to do but when you're able to grab Nutan's attention he sometimes doesn't stop staring or following you around, she headed over to two particularly old looking cats. They were sat next to each other and chatting. When they noticed the two new face coming towards them they both stopped and smiled at them. Although the one from the tabby tom looked a bit forced.

"Why, 'ello there, younglings." A blue she-cat greeted them as they took seats next to the elderly pair. Her voice sounded funny, because it was different from everyone else's that Cadence had heard before. "It's finally great to see who our next trainees will be."

The other cat snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, and hopefully they'll be better at respecting us then the others have been." His voice sounded the same as the other elder.

Paige rolled her eyes at her denmate. "Come now, Matthew, they're not that bad. That Bat fellow is quite nice actually."

"Sure 'e is, but the other three really get on my nerves sometimes." Matthew defended. All the while Cadence and Nutan just stayed where they were and watched the argument happen. Well, in Nutan's case he was staring intently at a beetle that had crawled its way onto his foot.

"Well, maybe if you were patient at some point in your life it would be better for everyone."

"Oi, for your information I _am_ patient. I just don't feel the need to let cats-in-training 'ave it from me."

"Um… excuse me?" Cadence said when Matthew stood up after his last comment, turning to face Paige. But the two elders just ignored her as they were too busy wrapped up in their little squabble. The two's Pokémon, which also looked aged and were barely noticed because they were in the back of the den, walked up to the elders and both said something to their partners.

After Paige's, the rock one, had said a few words the she-cat seemed to calm down and she thanks the Golem. But, on the other hand, Matthew's Slugma, the red lava-like one, had tried to calm down the golden-brown tom but failed. He just shrugged off the fire-type and continued to bicker at Paige, who in turn got riled up again and their argument continued. But it was slightly less heated, even though there was a Pokémon literal made of heat right next to them.

After a while the kits, mostly Cadence, grew bored of this and decided to leave. The small she-cat gave the two a quick goodbye before leaving, while having to basically push Nutan away from his new beetle friend.

They wandered around the rest of the camp; sticking their heads into almost every den they came across. Finally, they ended up at the front of the clearing, where the group they saw earlier was settled.

Being the curious and nosy kit she was, Cadence got the bright idea to eavesdrop on the conversation. She counted about five cats, recognizing the dark brown coat of their chief and the lighter one of the Shaman from what her mother had told her. She also took note that it was true from what her mother explained, the Shaman did not have any Pokémon at her side as the other four did.

The light-grey kit pressed herself to the ground and slowly moved her way over to the group of warriors, afraid that the super hearing from her mother's Swoobat or the nose of what looked to be a purple cat would pick up on her. But thankfully she made it over and under one of the woven sides of the den.

"Kadie," the she-cat who had the feline Pokémon started, "the Chief called us here because you apparently had a dream. Is this true?"

The Shaman looked up from the ground, her blue eyes bright and clear. "Yes. That is correct."

Another cat, this one having a black pelt, leaned forward. "Well, what happened? Is it bad? Are we going to war?" His thoughts quickly escaped his muzzle without a second thought.

The light brown she-cat shook her head slowly back and forth, "To be honest, Simon, I'm not completely sure what I saw."

The Chief flicked his tail at this. "Well, tell just all that you saw, and maybe we can help you piece it together." he told her.

"Okay…" The Shaman said. She was obviously unsure of herself, evident by her hesitant tone of voice. Cadence crawled towards the group some more so she could hear it clearer, still making sure the Pokémon she was wary of couldn't tell.

"... and then a loud, ear-slitting yowl came from inside the fire." The Shaman continued, her voice raised slightly. Even to a little kitten, it was obvious that she was getting rather wrapped up in her tale. "After chasing down the noise I finally came across it. There were two figures, fighting one another on a blazing tree trunk. It seemed that neither of them had the upperhand, as if they both were at the same level. And all around them were the bodies of dead cats."

"Did you recognize any of the shapes?" the cream coloured she-cat's voice was accompanied by the sound of fur brushing stone.

"No — I think their faces were meant to be obscured. It was as if whoever showed me this couldn't decide who they were supposed to be."

"Or," Simon's words had a sly quality to them, "fate wasn't yet sure that this was even going to happen."

The Chief spoke up now, lowering his voice to a hush that Cadence had to strain to hear. "You think it was a warning?"

"Like I said before, Seitre, I am still not quite sure. The only thing I know is that something going to happen. May it be good, or bad."

A few of the cats sighed, and the other stood up. "Well," the Chief said, "then we shall wait. All of you, go back to your duties. And, please, don't go telling everyone about this. We do not need to cause a panic."

They all nodded in understanding. Cadence quickly shuffled out of her hiding spot, which she had to backwards because it was only a small space under the den walls. Once she was free the small she-cat got the attention of her brother and they started back to their own den.

On the way Cadence said a few hellos to other warriors but was a little annoyed when they didn't even try to make an effort to talk with Nutan. They all acted like her littermate wasn't even there. The two kittens entered the den to see a dark brown she-cat getting settled into a nest towards the back of the nursery.

"Cadence, Nutan, please come here." Their mother said, beckoning them over. The two obliged and Awen showed them to the new cat. "This is Belen. She will be joining us from now on."

Cadence smiled at the she-cat, who returned it.

* * *

 **A wild chapter has appeared. What will the reader do?**

 **But anyway, hello guys! It seems that we are actually updating. I wrote most of the chapter, but Snap did help _a lot._ I wonder if you guys will notice the change in writing styles that are probably throughout this chapter. Sorry if it's annoying, tell either Snap or I if it is and we'll try to make it so there's not that big of a change with the styles. **

**Also, thanks to** Shadowtalon62 **for the follow!**

 **If you don't know, this is co-authored by** Queen of the Sidhe **, so go check her out if you enjoy this story! If you want to read more, be sure to follow so you don't miss when a new chapter comes out!**

 _ **~Jagged &Snap **_


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